Biography

Early life

Odyssey Foundation

Move to Illinois

Delta Project

Handy Andy

Final years in CA

Controversies

John Wayne Gacy case

Political connections

Pedophile clients

[...]

There are indications that some of the perpetrators in the Franklin scandal were Delta Project clients. In June 1978, Chicago police officers seized tens of thousands of pink index cards from Norman's apartment, which were the records of Norman's customers. Each file card contained the customer's name and their sexual preferences regarding the boys Norman was prostituting.[1] During an interview by Ted Gunderson, Franklin victim Paul Bonacci mentioned being abused by a Chicago schoolteacher named Joe Reynolds, who procured children for a nationwide boy prostitution network. The man in Chicago who ran the child prostitution ring kept a "pink" collection of file cards, listing customers and the kinds of boys they liked. When the man, who had a history of sex offenses against children, was once again arrested on child molestation charges, law enforcement discovered his file cards. Bonacci recounted being in the apartment where the file cards were kept, performing administrative tasks for the network. According to Bonacci, two names that showed up in the file cards were Alan Baer and Harold Andersen, both implicated in the Franklin case as homosexual pedophiles.[2] Based on the location (Chicago), the timing of Bonacci's abuse (late 1970s and early 1980s), the description of the man in charge of the network, and the nature of the file cards (their color and the information they contained), it is extremely likely that the man was John Norman. That would indicate that multiple Franklin abusers purchased boys from Norman's operation.

Dallas Police Department, prosecution report on John David Norman with arrest no. 73-54193, 1973/08/15: "On August 14, 1973, Detective W. K. King of the Dallas Police Youth Division received information from a confidential informant that John David Norman was operating a homosexual ring at his Apartment located at 3716 Cole Avenue, Apartment #208. The informant also told Detective King that John David Norman had a large number of files in his apartment which listed the names of out-of-town persons who were involved in committing acts of sodomy with friends of John Norman."

"The alleged leader of the ring, John Paul Norman, 45 years old, was freed today on $7,000 bond after the police filed charges of violation of state I narcotics laws, stemming from the seizure of marijuana in the apartment."

"It was learned that Norman has an arrest record in Houston for sexual assaults in 1954 and 1956, but disposition of the cases was not immediately known.

He also has convictions in California in 1963 for such assaults and in 1971 for sending obscene literature through the mail, a Federal charge. He was also committed to a state hospital by the California Department of Mental Hygiene as sex offender."

"The authorities said that the ring, operating under the name of the Odyssey Foundation with a San Diego, Calif., post office box, became known last Friday [August 10, 1973] when a 24‐year‐old member of the organization became panicky that the police were about to strike.

However, the police said they had been unaware of the operation until the man disclosed it."

"Members of the Criminal Investigation Division's Special Investigations Unit and Youth Division, led by Lieut. Harold Hancock of the Intelligence Division, secured search warrants late yesterday afternoon.

The detectives raided the second‐floor apartment at 3716 Cole Avenue and seized files, pornographic literature, a camera, photo‐engraving equipment, stationery, an electric typewriter and hundreds of booklets with names and addresses. The confiscated material filled a pickup truck.

The literature and stationery bore the name “Epic International” and gave the address, apartment number and a tele phone number.

The ring, allegedly procured teen‐aged boys and young men, publishing their names, pietures, physical description, age and interests in the booklet."

Independent (Long Beach CA), "Police seek tie between killings, homosexual ring", 1973/08/17: "Houston and Dallas police said Thursday they were trying to find out if there was any connection between a nationwide homosexual procurement ring headquartered in Dallas and the torture deaths of 27 young men in Houston. "We have nothing definite yet to connect the two," said Asst. Police Chief Don Steel. "But our investigation will continue both in Houston and Dallas until we are satisfied the two homosexual operations were independent of each other." [...] "Of particular concern to us right now is determining whether or not any youngsters have been forced into homosexual acts or are being held against their will," Steele said. He said each teen-ager listed would be contacted "mainly to make sure they are unhurt and all right." The Internal Revenue Service also was beginning an investigation of the procurement ring, called the "Odyssey Foundation," which required a $15 membership fee from the thousands registered with it. Norman, a native of Oklahoma, got out of a California jail two years ago following a 15-month sentence on obscenity charges."

"We know that shortly after the Houston murders of 27 young boys in 1973, John Paul Norman was arrested in Dallas for running a call-boy service by mail. Norman's files taken in the police raid included a master-list of some 50-thousand prospects for the services of literally hundreds of boys."

"We know that in 1975, Houston police arrested Roy Ames after finding a warehouse full of pornography including 15-thousand color slides of boys in homosexual acts, over one thousand magazines and paperback books plus a thousand reels of film."

"We know that in Santa Clara, California, police arrested a local high school teacher and a photographer who had been running a porno ring in that town for over ten years. 250 different boys were involved and over 10-thousand pic- tures were taken in the raid. The photographer also told police he had destroyed at least four times that amount."

"Quite recently, a man with the unlikely name of Guy Strait was sentenced to. a lengthy prison term in Rockford, Illinois for using children for pornography. Mr. Strait was considered to be a big producer. His partner. Bill Byars is the heir to the Humble Oil fortune and fled the country a couple years ago to Italy. These partners produced vast amounts of pornographic films and magazines. But when Houston police arrested Roy Ames, Ames described them as small-time operators. Houston police officers tried to make a deal with Ames offering him a light sentence In exchange for Information about other producers. In spite of the fact that Ames was facing a ten-year sentence, he laughed at the police and told them his operation would run just as well while he was in jail as it would if he were out. He is now serving a lengthy sentence in a federal prison."

Chicago years

"A complete rundown of NORMAN'S activities over the past several years was obtained from LT. HANCOCK, including the following: NORMAN has served time in CALIFORNIA STATE PENITENTIARY for sexual perversion and in the FEDERAL PENITENTIARY at McNEIL ISLAND, WASHINGTON for mailing obscene material." - the former would be 1963 and the latter would be 1971

"Also on November 6, 1973 Rehling identified Dallas Police Department Photo Number 121699 of John David Norman as being identical to the person that was known to him as Steven Gurwell.Information received from the Dallas Police Department revealed the fact that John David Norman is a white male, 155 pounds, grey hair, green eyes, and has F. B. I. number 300 583- 0."

"On 03/12/74, JOHN DAVID NORMAN appeared before JUDGE SULLIVAN in MIDLOTHIAN BRANCH OF CIRCUIT COURT. At this time, the above listed cases were nolle prossed by the State's Attorney.

It was the opinion of the State's Attorney that these charges constituted only misdemeanors. NORMAN was charged with five (5) additional counts of INDECENT LIBERTIES WITH A CHILD, all of which were considered FELONIES and all of which were bound over to the GRAND JURY."

Chicago Tribune, "Parolee arrested in child porn raid", 1978/06/17 (pages 1, 4) - notes that "Phillip Paske, 25, an associate of "Delta," was in the apartment when Norman was arrested, Kelly said. Paske was identified in Norman's M/C newsletter as manager of a mail-order house handling "whatchamacallits," Kelly said. Paske was not arrested, Kelly said."

The Daily Chronicle (DeKalb IL), "Hidden cards list boys' names", 1978/06/19: "The 20,000 pink index cards bear the names of customers in every state and some foreign countries. They list their sexual preferences in young boys. The Chicago Police Department's special unit on child pornography and prostitution Sunday was examining the confiscated cards in its case against a 50-year-old man charged with contributing to the sexual delinquency of minors. "We intend to go through the whole file and find out just who subscribes to child sex publications," said Sgt. Ronald Kelly, head of the child pornography unit. Police seized the file cards Friday in the apartment of John Norman, who is being held in the Cook County jail on the sexual delinquency charge. At the time of his arrest, Norman was on parole for an earlier charge that he sexually molested several boys from suburban Chicago. He had been identified in a 1977 Chicago Tribune child pornography series as a ringleader of one of the country's largest mailorder child pornography and prostitution operations. Norman was released from prison last fall on condition that he avoid the company of boys under the age of 18 unless accompanied by their parents. "Since Norman's release from Pontiac (state prison) last fall, he hasn't wasted any time," Kelly said. "Norman has now re-established his old 'Delta Project' operation under new names 'Creative Corps' and 'M C (Male Call) Publications'. "These operations send young males to men for sexual purposes. One of the boys told us Norman was in the process of sending him to a man in Canada and they were just waiting for his ticket." After his arrest Friday, Norman was charged with having sex with two juvenile boys and with taking nude pictures of the boys. He also was charged with violating his parole."

Des Moines Register, "CHILD PORN PROBE KEYS ON PAROLEE", 1978/06/20 (pages 11 OCR): "Key evidence consists of between 50,000 and 100,000 pink file cards believed to list the ring's customers and their sexual preferences. The file cards also list citizens band radio information, indicating that sex ring information could be passed via CB radio messages in possible violation of federal law. Authorities said they have evidence that the sex ring shipped boys across state lines and to some foreign nations for prostitution. This also would be a violation of federal law. FBI agents and postal inspectors were examining the card file which was seized by Chicago police Friday in the apartment of John Norman, 50. Norman, identified by police as the head of the ring, was arrested on charges of contributing to the sexual delinquency of minors after two teen-age boys said he photographed them in the nude and had sexual relations with them. Norman is being held in the Cook County Jail. At the time of his arrest Norman was on parole from a prison sentence for molesting several suburban boys. "With the cooperation of the federal government, we should finally be able to curb a good part of Norman's nationwide operation," said Chicago Police Sgt. Ronald Kelly, head of a special investigation unit of the police youth division. Kelly has specialized in crimes involving child prostitution and child pornography. Norman's suspected sex ring operations were first disclosed more than a year ago in a Chicago Tribune series on child pornography and prostitution. He was identified at that time as head of a boys-for-pay operation and newsletter under the name Delta Project. Kelly said that when Norman was paroled last fall he resumed a Delta Project operation under the names "The Creative Corps" and M-C Publications. Police said M-C stands for "male call." Federal authorities are seeking evidence of such federal law violations as shipping children across state lines for purposes of prostitution or pornography and radio misuse of the airwaves. Postal officials are attempting to learn details of the maze of post office boxes used by the sex ring."

Chicago Tribune, "Police seek '77 killing link to slain youths", 1979/02/28: pages 19 - similar to how "Tony" in the Johnny Gosch abduction is described, the article says "Informants have told police that Paske often dresses as a woman."

Illinois Supreme Court, no. 51521: Norman v. Elrod, denial of writ of habeas corpus, 1979/03/21: "Petitioner seeks a writ of habeas corpus, claiming that he was incorrectly advised at the time of his plea of guilty that there would be no mandatory parole term following the expiration of his sentence. No claim is made that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter or over defendant's person, and habeas corpus is not available. [...] The motion by petitioner for leave to file a petition for an original writ of habeas corpus is denied, without prejudice to the right of petitioner to file a post-conviction petition in the trial court."

From p.202 of Freed to Kill by Gera-Lind Kolarik: "The city does not have a notorious district such as Sunset Strip, but in the 1970s it had a computerized ring that sold boys to customers in other states. The operation was called the "Chicken Delight Escort Service." One druggist on the North Side always used boys to "deliver medicine" to plush high rises on North Lake Shore Drive, the address of respected doctors and lawyers."

The northernmost stretch of North Lake Shore Drive is very close to 5445 N Sheridan Road, where "Emilio" suspect Roger Matice a.k.a. Roger Dean Matice lived in a high-rise condo overlooking Lake Michigan

Chicago Tribune, "Student held in actor killing", 1980/09/12 (pages 1, 22): "AN UNEMPLOYED drama student described by friends as an aspiring actor was charged with murder Thursday in the stabbing death of oldtime radio actor and drama coach Everett Clarke. Police arrested Paul DeWit, 21, in his high-rise apartment building at 3520 N. Lake Shore Dr. after finding his name in the dead mans appointment book. Police said DeWit, who is 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 180 pounds, has no visible means of income and lives alone in an expensive apartment across North Lake Shore Drive from Belmont Harbor. At the time of his arrest he was on probation on a prostitution charge. He has reportedly confessed to the killing but refused to tell police his motive."

Chicago Tribune, "Actor 'guilty but insane' in killing", 1981/10/02: "DeWit's defense attorney, Lorna Propes, did not deny that DeWit murdered Clarke in his 10th-floor studio in the Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Av., on September 9, 1980. At issue during this nine-day trial in the courtroom of Judge Arthur J. Cieslik was DeWit's mental state at the time. [...] Jurors heard the opinions of three psychiatrists who had examined the unemployed actor: Two had diagnosed DeWit as a paranoid schizophrenic who suffered from paranoid delusions that everyone, including his own mother, was out to kill him. They said DeWit believed Clarke was a Mafia figure who wanted to kill him and destroy his career. They said DeWit was insane at the time."

Pennsylvania years

Gettysburg Times, "Man held on child molesting charge", 1984/10/31 (pages 1 OCR): "A Heidlersburg man was in Adams County prison Tuesday after he was arraigned on an 18-count complaint that included child molestation, said state police. John David Norman, 56, alias Clarence McKay, was committed to prison in lieu of $550,000 bond and was charged with three counts each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, indecent exposure and three misdemeanor charges or corruption of morals of minors, sexual abuse of children and interference of custody. Norman was arraigned Monday before District Magistrate Harold R. Deardorff. following his extradition from the Chicago area. State police said Norman was located through the Boiling Brook police following a similar complaint received by that department. Charges here involved three juveniles and allegedly occurred from a period of October 1983 to this past May, said police. The initial complaint was filed through the Adams County District Attorney's office and was received by first assistant D.A Roy Keefer. A May 31 search of Norman's Tyrone Township residence uncovered numerous documents, pornographic photos, photography equipment and marijuana, said police. Norman will be represented by a public defender, said police, and a preliminary hearing has been set tentatively for 11 a.m. November 7 before Deardorff."

Public Opinion (Chambersburg PA), "Victims testify in child porn case", 1984/11/16 (pages 1 OCR): "An Adams County man charged with running a child pornography ring from his Community Farm Road home was bound over to Adams County Court this week after a preliminary hearing before District Justice Harold R. Deardorff. John P. Norman, 57, also known as Clarence McKay, Charles McKay and John McKay was arrested by police in Chicago, IL., on similar charges and returned to Adams County Oct. 29, Pennsylvania State Police at Gettysburg said. NORMAN WAS arraigned before Deardorff on 18 counts of child abuse, indecent assault, indecent exposure, deviate sexual intercourse and interfering with the custody of a minor. At Wednesday's preliminary hearing the 18 counts were dropped to 14. Three Gettysburg juveniles, two 16-year-old boys and one 15-year-old boy, were called to testify Wednesday by Assistant District Attorney Roy Keefer. Two of the boys were also questioned by Norman's court appointed attorney Clayton Wilcox. [...]"

Gettysburg Times, "Handy Andy" by Jeffrey B. Roth, 1986/11/29 (pages 2c): "Handy Andy was a locally produced homosexual child pornography publication. It featured photographs of boys engaged in fellatio, masturbation, and other sexual acts. State police at Gettysburg who investigated the incident said at least 20 local teenage boys had been involved in the kiddie porn ring that operated for two years before it was reported to authorities, by one of the victims. A 58-year-old man accused of running the mail-order operation was said to entice boys into the operation by providing them drugs and alcohol. The clandestine studio was housed at two different locations in the county, a two-and one-half story red brick house on the Farm Company Road, near Aspers, and in an efficiency apartment at a motel in Cumberland Township. Police raided the latter rented home in May 1984, however the suspect had fled the scene. Later returned to Adams County after being arrested in Will County, Illinois, John David Norman, who is alleged to have at least 20 different aliases, was charged locally with a total of 20 child molestation and sexual abuse offenses including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. The charges stemmed from allegations made by one of three identified victims. Police said Norman had a record of past child sexual assault offenses and is wanted in at least five other states on similar charges. A jailhouse lawyer, Norman successfully filed a writ to have his bail reduced. After posting $7,500 in cash he skipped bail. He is still at large. While a warrant for his arrest is still outstanding, Norman apparently has a great deal of experience eluding capture and detection. In Adams County, he is known to have said that he was a researcher and writer. Without the tip, the pornography operation may have gone on indefinitely."

Des Moines Register (from Associated Press), "Illinois inmate attempts suicide by biting himself", 1987/08/03 (pages 3a): "URBANA, ILL. (AP) - An inmate at the Champaign County Jail charged with harboring a "national pornography kingpin" tried to commit suicide by biting himself and is recovering under guard at a local hospital, authorities said. Erik Kimble, 20, tried to kill him self Saturday by biting a vein in his arm, said Lt. Kenneth Roderick of the Champaign County Sheriff's Department. Kimble was arrested Wednesday with John David Norman, 59."

Gettysburg Times, "Accused Adams pornographer serving 6-year sentence in Illinois prison", 1988/05/13 (pages 7a): "A 60-year-old man accused of operating a homosexual pornography studio in Adams County is currently serving a six-year sentence in an Illinois prison. John David Norman, formerly of Company Farm Road, Aspers, was charged in Illinois with possession of stolen property and possession of pornography. In August 1987, Norman, who skipped bail in Adams County, was arrested near the University of Illinois. Extradition proceedings were brought against him by local authorities, and as he had in the past, he fought extradition. Trooper Terry P. Helwig of the state police at Gettysburg, who was the investigator at the time and is still assigned to the case, said that Norman will be eventually brought back to face charges of three counts each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, indecent exposure, and misdemeanors of corruption of the morals of juninors, sexual abuse of children, and interference with custody. Those charges stem from a two-year period in which police said that he operated in the county, That operation ended May 31, 1984, when police raided his home and confiscated pornographic photographs, customer mailing lists, photography equipment, and a host of paraphernalia that police say was used in the illicit operation. Police said Norman, who went by the name of Clarence Eugene Jr. locally, has a criminal record for similar offenses in at least two other states going back to 1960. Norman is believed to have started the operation at a motel on the Biglerville Road, and eventually moved it to the Tyrone Township location. Norman, police said, produced a magazine called "Handy Andy" which featured photographs of teenage boys performing homosexual acts. As many as 20 boys may have been involved in the operation during the two-year period. By the time police raided Norman's rented home he had already fled the state. Then in 1985, Norman was arrested in Dupage County, IL., near Chicago. Detective James Bonk of the Bowling Brook Police Department said that two teenage boys filed a complaint claiming that a man who called himself Patrick Nelson had propositioned them by offering them alcohol. In Adams County, police said Norman routinely used drugs and alcohol to lure boys into the operation. When police attempted to arrest him at his third floor apartment he jumped out of the window and onto the ground below. The officers rushed downstairs only to find that Norman had managed to escape. Later that day, the police received a call from a hospital in a neighboring county about a man who claimed to have fallen from a third floor apartment while attempting to adjust his television antenna. Upon investigating they that Norman had somehow managed to get away from the [???] in spite of a broken ankle and Jned [???] back. After FBI computers positively identified him as the man wanted by Pennsylvania authorities extradition proceedings were started. He was eventually brought back to this county to face the charges filed, just one-year before. A jailhouse lawyer, Norman filed a writ of habeus corpus and succeeded in having his bail lowered. He was released and he fled immediately."

Gettysburg Times, "Child pornographer gets 18 months", 1989/01/09 (pages 8b): "A former Adams County man has been sentenced by President Judge Oscar F. Spicer to 18 to 36 months in the Adams County Prison in conjunction with a 1984 child pornography case. Clarence McKay, also known as John David Norman, and according to police many other aliases, was sentenced Friday in accordance with a plea agreement. McKay, 61, pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. Trooper Terry P. Helwig of the state police at Gettysburg, the principal investigator into the homosexual pornography operation which may have involved as many as 20 boys, originally charged McKay with an additional three counts of indecent assault, two counts of indecent exposure, three counts of corruption of minors, four counts of sexual abuse of children, and one count of interference with the custody of children. The plea agreement ended nearly four years of a national manhunt for McKay, which began May 31, 1984, when state police, acting on a tip, raided McKay's rented home on the Farm Company Road, Aspers. Unfortunately for police, McKay was not at the residence when they arrived. He was arrested months later in Will County, Illinois on similar charges. At that time he was using the name, Patrick Nelson. McKay, who has an extensive criminal background of sexually molesting children, was brought back to Adams County to stand trial. A jailhouse lawyer, McKay filed a writ of habeas corpus, had his bail reduced, and in March 1985, he skipped bail and left the state. It was not until two years later that McKay, this time using the name of John Norman, was again arrested in Illinois, this time in Urbana. Again he was charged with child pornography and also a change of receiving stolen property. From Oct. 1983 until police raided his home in 1984, McKay produced a magazine entitled "Handy Andy." Police seized photos of nude boys involved in various sexual acts. Evidence found at the house, which is located north of Heidlersburg, indicated that McKay operated a mail order pornography ring. Police said that the thin man with white hair used drugs and alcohol to seduce the teenage boys into cooperating with the operation. Police also learned that McKay's record of child molestation dated back to 1960. He had served a prison sentence in California on similar charges and was also wanted in Colorado at the time of the 1984 incident. McKay was represented by Assistant Public Defender John A. Wolfe of Wolfe Rice, Gettysburg. District Attorney Roy A. Keefer prosecuted the case. Police said in an earlier interview that the plea agreement was developed because of the potential difficulty of finding witnesses to testify against McKay after such a lengthy period of time. No fine was imposed by the court."